Trump Reopens Birthright Citizenship Battle, Signs Two New Executive Orders Despite Supreme Court Setback

President Donald Trump has taken a new step in his effort to restrict the constitutional right to automatic citizenship in the United States, just weeks after the Supreme Court blocked his previous initiative.

Most recently, he signed two executive orders expanding the categories of babies who would no longer be granted immediate US citizenship and targeting the phenomenon known as “birth tourism,” the Guardian reports.

Trump has long sought to revise the principle of birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born on US soil.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling, the president made no secret of his dissatisfaction, describing it as “highly unfavorable.” “We will make the necessary corrections because this situation is extremely unfair,” he told reporters.

The first executive order seeks to further clarify the circumstances in which children born in the US would no longer be automatically entitled to citizenship. According to the president’s office, this could include children of individuals with ties to foreign groups classified as terrorist organizations, as well as those operating under the orders of other countries. The administration also wants to expand exemptions to include the descendants of foreign government employees and those born in US territories where federal law does not provide for the automatic granting of citizenship. Another key provision concerns cases in which parents have used fraud to obtain citizenship or other immigration benefits.

The second document focuses entirely on the practice of “birth tourism,” in which pregnant women travel to the US for the sole purpose of having their baby born as an American citizen. Trump insisted that the phenomenon has reached massive proportions, citing “hundreds of thousands” of cases, although he provided no concrete data to support the claim.

An estimate by the Migration Policy Institute suggests a much more limited reality, putting the annual number of such births at approximately 22,000 to 26,000. Official statistics for 2024 indicate approximately 9,600 births to mothers residing outside the United States, a figure representing less than 1% of all births registered in the country each year. As part of the new measures, federal agencies have been directed to crack down on operators that sell such travel packages.

The new orders are expected to face further legal challenges. On June 30, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s first order, which sought to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the US to undocumented parents or parents holding temporary visas. The administration now appears to be testing the limits of that ruling by redefining the categories of people who, according to its interpretation, fall outside constitutional protection.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) quickly responded, immediately challenging the measure and calling it another unconstitutional attempt. “The Supreme Court has settled this issue once and for all: birthright citizenship is a guarantee provided by the Constitution. No presidential decree can rewrite the meaning of the Constitution,” said Cody Wofsy of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.